Guadalajara, Jal., The writer Mia Couto (António Emílio Leite Couto, July 5, 1955, Beira, Mozambique) was unanimously declared the winner of the FIL Literature Prize in Romance Languages in the 2024 edition, which will be presented on November 30 at the inaugural event of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL). It is the first time that an African writer has received this award.
“I started out as a journalist, I worked and experienced first-hand a civil war that left 1 million dead, and journalism was an important part of my career. It was a great school of human knowledge, of learning the craft of writing. I wrote poetry, but it was journalism that gave me the chance to be close to people and strengthen that relationship of proximity and intimacy,” said Couto, in a video link after the jury’s decision was announced.
The jury said it chose the Mozambican writer for his work in chronicles, novels and short stories, genres that he interweaves and with which he achieves a “notable relationship between members of Portuguese-speaking countries,” drawing attention and sensitivity to Africa, “inviting us to recognize and approach the history and nature of the planet in a different way.”
He said he knows Latin American authors of magical realism very well, highlighting Mexican writers such as Juan Rulfo, Octavio Paz and Carlos Fuentes.
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– 2024-09-03 16:47:11
